


Give Yourself a Chance

by wraisedbywolves



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Minor Injuries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-24
Updated: 2016-08-24
Packaged: 2018-08-10 19:17:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7857832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wraisedbywolves/pseuds/wraisedbywolves
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Duke is still settling in to Wayne Manor and all that comes with it, but takes a break to thank Dr. Thompkins for all her help along the way. At the clinic, he runs into someone he hasn't had a chance to meet out of costume just yet.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Give Yourself a Chance

“Hey… Dr. Thompkins? Are you here?”

The intercom in front of Duke crackled to life, and with it the camera situated to the left of the clinic’s front door. There was no screen to go with it, but the camera would show his face somewhere inside the office. He’d visited the clinic before, and knew that they had to take security seriously. It wasn’t exactly in the safest part of Gotham

“Duke?” Leslie Thompkins answered through the speaker, “I didn’t expect to see you today. Come on in, I’m just wrapping up some paperwork before I head out.”

A loud, grating buzz issued from just inside the door and Duke shuffled through, pulling hard to make sure the latch clicked back into place behind him. The lights were off in the waiting area and most of the exam rooms lining the main hallway but he could see lights in Dr. Thompkins’ office and the last exam room, the one across from it. He walked to the office and found Dr. Thompkins looking at x-rays of someone’s chest, the paperwork she mentioned strewed haphazardly across the desk behind her. When Duke came into the doorway, she looked up and smiled warmly.

“Come on in, have a seat. Just push that stuff out of the way.  How are you doing?”

“I’m fine, I’m good. I just…” Duke glanced around the room, then finally looked up at Dr. Thompkins with a sideways sort of grin. “I wanted to stop by and say thank you. For everything. You know?”

“Well you’re very welcome, Duke. I’m glad to see you back on track. You had me worried for a while there. How’s the new school?”

“So far so good. Keeping my nose clean.”

“Glad to hear it. How are you settling in with Mr. Wayne? I’d have to image that house is a bit overwhelming at first.”

Duke laughed. “I think I’m going to have to make some signs to find my way around, but I like it. Mr. Wayne has been very accommodating.”

“Good.” Dr. Thompkins smiled warmly at him. “He’s acted as a foster parent before, and while I don’t always see eye to eye with him, they’re all… They’re good kids. He’s a good man, and a good mentor. Just… Try not to get in too deep, Duke.”

He suspected that they weren’t talking about Mr. Wayne’s history as a foster parent anymore, and frowned. Did Dr. Thompkins know…?

A loud voice from across the hall interrupted his thoughts. 

“Hey, Doc! Those x-rays ready yet? I need to get going.”

Duke turned to look into the only other  room with the lights still on, and was startled to see a man in his twenties sitting up on the exam table. He hadn’t heard or seen him when he came into the clinic, but he was hard to miss now--tall, broad in the shoulder and chest, and stripped down to the waist with fresh gauze wrapped around his upper arm. Dr. Thompkins sighed and gathered up the x-rays she had been looking at, then crossed the hall to the exam room. Duke followed her.

Dr. Thompkins frowned tightly at the man on the table, and put the x-rays up on the wall where he could see them. “Jason, you will  _ stay put _ until I tell you you’re clear to leave.”

Closer up, Duke could see a streak of white in the man’s unruly black hair and an impressive array of faded scars covering his upper body underneath the fresh bruises and cuts. He looked like he’d been in a bad fight. The man looked at him and grinned through a split lip. 

“Hey, it’s the new kid! Didn’t know you’d already been introduced, Doc.”

Dr. Thompkins ignored him. “You’ve got two cracked ribs and four bruised ones,” she told him, “In addition to a hairline fracture on your left collarbone. You’re going to go straight home, with no nonsense on the way, and you’re going to get in bed and  _ stay there _ for at least three days. Three whole days. A week would be better, but I know asking you to sit still for five minutes is asking the impossible. But I’m serious--no jumping off roofs  _ at all. _ ”

The man laughed. “Good thing I don’t jump off roofs, then, Doc. Guys like me, we  _ fly _ .”

Dr. Thompkins rolled her eyes and sighed before turning on her heel to go fetch something from her office. Duke looked the man up and down again, taking in his build and the way he moved, the way he talked--the leather jacket slung over a chair by the door was the final clue. 

“Red Hood?” he asked quietly, glancing to the side to make sure Dr. Thompkins wasn’t close enough to hear him.

Another wide grin, and the man extended his hand to Duke. “The one and only. Jason Todd, at your service. Well, maybe. You’re kinda young for me. But I’m always around to help kick another Robin out of the nest when he needs a push.”

Duke shook his hand automatically, but looked nervously over his shoulder again toward Dr. Thompkins, who still had her back to them across the hall.

“Don’t worry, new kid,” said Jason, leaning back against the heels of his hands and only wincing slightly at the pressure on his collarbone. “Doc knows all about what we get up to. If you ever need a patch job and Alfie’s not on hand, this is the place to come.”

Duke wanted to ask how she knew, how long she’d known--had she known what he was getting involved with the first time he’d put on the ‘R’? Had she tried to keep him away from it because she could see where that road led when she looked at the Robins who had gone before? Before he could ask anything, though, Dr. Thompkins returned, holding up an orange pill bottle and looking pointedly at Jason. 

“Two at a time every four to six hours for the next two days, then one at a time for the third. If I have to call in a favor to make sure you stay in your apartment I will, so don’t test me. You’re not  _ flying _ anywhere until you’ve had time to heal. I don’t need to tell you what a properly broken collarbone will do to you.”

Jason grimaced dramatically, but accepted the pill bottle. “You drive a hard bargain, Doc.”

“I mean it. Bed rest, real food,  _ no roofs _ .” 

Dr. Thompkins turned to Duke. As soon as her back was turned, Jason hopped quietly off the table and started to pull on a rumpled black t-shirt retrieved from somewhere in his jacket. 

“And Mr. Thomas, I do  _ not _ want to hear that you’re taking any foolish risks either. Worry about school, not…. Not all that.” she finished, gesturing vaguely as though encompassing the whole neighborhood. 

Her face fell slightly. “You’re a good kid, Duke. I know you’ll grow up to be an extraordinary young man no matter what path you pursue but… Just promise me you’ll at least  _ try _ other things before you commit yourself to sitting on gargoyles and punching criminals. There are so many other ways to make a difference in this world. Give yourself a chance.”

Duke colored slightly under the close scrutiny. “I will, Dr. Thompkins.”


End file.
